Piñata Materials

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Creating the best piñata is not a difficult endeavour, however, we must be aware of the differences between the materials we could pick to build such piñata, because we must take in count several things. To begin, let’s remember that we have two ways of building a traditional piñata: the clay pot one and the balloon one. The only difference between this two is that one is much heavier and easy to break and the other one takes a little bit longer to do the same. Both of them are built with layers of newspaper and a flour-and-water-based sticky baked mixture, on top of that, we have a cover of china paper to decorate it and the seven spikes representing the seven capital sins with china paper decoration too.

Usually, we would build a piñata just for the fun of making it and then to be able to fill it with candy and break it apart to get the prize. The thing is, that if we want to build a piñata nowadays, we must take in count:

Space. Building the piñata is really easy if you are aware of this variable, we need a nice and ventilated space so the piñata can dry faster between layers.

Time: A piñata is not built in two days, no matter how good we are, we must plan it very well.

Materials: The clay pot piñata is the traditional one and it’s maybe the best option, but remember that sometimes there are little children participating and we should take care of little details such as this, the clay pot once broken, can provoke serious physical damage.

Eco-friendly: Maybe we are not so eco-friendly when building a piñata, for several reasons, but at least we could decrease the impact of it, maybe not using so much paper and finding better ways to decorate the master piece.

It WILL break: You can build the best piñata ever, but always remember that the best piñata is the one you can have fun with.

Vocabulary:

Clay:Thick, heavy soil that is soft when wet, and hard when dry or baked, used for making bricks and containers.

Pot:Any of different types of containers, with or without a lid, especially for storing food or liquids.

Sticky: Made of or covered with a substance that stays attached to any surface it touches.

Recommendations:

Think of the piñata you have liked the most in your life and try to build it with that feeling of happiness you had.

Questionnaire:

Why do you want to build a piñata?

Welcome to this activity created by Learning Advisor Ms. Adriana Navarro Posada from Polanco Branch. Take note of all the pink words, read the text, watch the video and answer the question in the comment section below.